Extended-wear Contact Lens Correction of Aphakia in Infant Primates: Corneal Studies

Abstract

Extended-wear contact lenses (EWCL) are being used increasingly for the correction of aphakia in infants, but there is a lack of data documenting their effects on the corneas of young children. Therefore, corneal studies were performed on infant monkeys wearing EWCL for the correction of surgical aphakia. Nine newborn monkeys underwent unilateral lensectomy and anterior vitrectomy. Seven eyes were fitted with aphakic EWCL postoperatively and two wore no lenses. After at least six months, corneas were studied with slit-lamp and specular microscopy, and with light microscopy (LM) and electron microscopy (EM). Small central corneal opacities developed in two aphakic eyes corrected with EWCL after episodes of keratoconjunctivitis. One of these corneas was found to have a mildly increased coefficient of variation (CV) of endothelial cell size (polymegathism). Although EWCL are well tolerated by the corneas of aphakic infant primates, their association with endothelial polymegathism, which may indicate physiologic compromise, mandates careful long-term follow-up.